The Coming Darkness
by Trevor the Enchanter
Summary: Unknown to to Danny Phantom, an ancient, powerful force has awakened, and it has its eyes set on humanity.
1. Chapter 1

I admit, this is an idea I have had in my mind for some time, but I haven't been able to write it. I really hate writer's block, but hopefully, I've got something by now. I have a rough outline as to how this story is going to go and how long it is going to get.

X X X X X X X X X X

Danny flew to school at a leisurely pace. Ordinarily, he would have brought Sam and Tucker along, but their parents were taking them to school this time around. Both of them were getting ready for a debate in one of their classes. Personally, he wasn't sure what to think about it, but he would listen to the arguments and make his decision then.

It was around three months into his senior year and while he wasn't covered in muscle, Danny was far from the skinny twerp he was during his freshman year. He was around 5'9 and weighed approximately 180 pounds. Not many people bullied him anymore, except for Dash Baxter. About a year after he got his powers, he approached his mom to see if she would be willing to teach him Martial Arts. She readily agreed and the training began. He improved rapidly, due to his mother's skill and the fact that he had multiple opportunities a day to practice.

Still, not too many ghosts came around anymore. They didn't want to fight him, especially since Danny was more ruthless than he had been in the past. Thankfully, he had never found it necessary to destroy a ghost, but there were times he had come close. Even Skulker left him alone now due to his expanding abilities.

At least in his opinion, in terms of sheer power, he now equaled or rivaled Vlad Plasmius. While Vlad still had more experience, Danny had rapidly caught up. He was able to duplicate into five easily, while still being able to control all of them. His ecto-blasts had gotten far more powerful to the point where if one of his shots missed, they could easily kill a human being. The shields he conjured around himself were so strong, almost no ghost weapon could get through them, which frequently came in handy. He could stay intangible or invisible indefinitely, which made it easy to get away from the rampaging fans, rampaging sometimes being in the literal sense.

His ice powers had expanded as well. It took a great deal of use for them to start wearing down. Of course, that also meant it was frequently necessary to release them, or he would start freezing again and they would be coming out on their own. His ghostly wail didn't tire him out nearly as much as it once did, although he still rarely used it. Even so, it would quickly defeat any of his enemies, able to tear through even the strongest shields Vlad could build. Unfortunately, it was liable to cause a great deal of collateral damage as well, so frequent use appeared unwise. He was frequently hammered in the media for damage sustained to buildings during a ghost fight, though it never impacted Danny Phantom's popularity for very long.

One technique he had never managed, though, was to create ghost portals out of thin air, the way he remembered Dan doing in the future. He had tried for months, but it proved even harder than duplication. Danny hadn't even made a small amount of progress. As for flying, it was possible for him to fly over 260 miles an hour, though he rarely did so because at that speed, it was almost impossible to see anything.

He sensed a ghost nearby and decided to check it out. Another thing he had learned over the years was that not all ghosts are evil and malevolent, even if they were not what he would call an ally. Danny flew closer, wanting to see if this one posed a threat. It was nearly 8 feet tall with glowing red eyes, but so far, didn't appear to be hurting anyone.

That is, until it saw Danny. The moment he was stopped, he was hit in the chest with an ecto-blast, the ghost following up with a series of punches and kicks. Danny flew away for several seconds to regain his coordination, getting hit by more shots, but he had enough time to put up a shield this time around.

Danny rolled to the side to avoid more and charged into the ghost, hitting him in the chest with both fists. He screamed in surprise and pain, spinning around in the air. He fired several mild ecto-blasts, but they were still enough to slow him down. However, the ghost wasn't quite out of the fight yet. As Danny approached, he got kicked in the jaw, sending him into a building.

He rubbed his jaw softly as it throbbed. _I've had worse. _He shrugged. He did a backflip, grabbing the ghost by the neck and punching it in both eyes, blinding it temporarily. He threw it up into the air, firing giant sparks of energy, causing the ghost to scream in agony. Danny reached for the Thermos, only to find that he had forgotten it again.

"No! No! Please don't send me back!" The ghost screamed.

"Why not?" Danny demanded. "You threw the first punch."

"I know who you are and I know what you do!" the ghost exclaimed. "I'll do whatever you want-even be your slave- but don't send me back!"

"Why are you so frightened, anyway?"

"You mean you haven't heard anything?"

"No, what are you talking about?"

"There are rumors about them. They are returning!"

"Who's returning?" Danny could think of several unpleasant possibilities.

"Them! Them!" It continued in this fashion for several minutes before Danny realized he wasn't going to get anything more out of the ghost. He sighed and began to speak.

"Okay, look, if you want to stay here, fine, but I have a couple of conditions. First of all and more importantly, do not attack anyone! If you do, I don't care what's waiting for you in the ghost zone, I'm sending you back. Secondly, do not try fighting with me again. I don't think you'll like the result of it, especially since I've been holding back the entire time."

"Of course! Anything!" It flew off at its top speed, leaving Danny very confused. He got to school, thankfully on time, but he was too distracted by what he had learned to pay too much attention in his classes. He ran it through his head, over and over, pondering just what that ghost had meant. _It looks like I'll have to do a little exploring in the ghost zone, make sure some of my deadliest enemies are still locked up. _

They had gotten to their history class, which was the only one Danny, Sam, and Tucker shared this time around. That, and Danny was starting to develop an interest in history. _It's definitely better than math, I'll give it that much. _Sam and Tucker were eager for their debate, each expecting to tear the other apart.

Danny, on the other hand, just submitted his report. He never felt comfortable with public speaking and always felt nervous about it, especially since he got the feeling that people laughed at him. There was a lot of stammering and nervousness, which affected his grade, so he decided to simply turn in a paper, which most students did. Sam and Tucker, on the other hand, had found an issue where their opinions were almost the direct opposite. It would be entertaining, if nothing else. Over the past year, the duo had frequently gotten into political arguments.

"Okay, this debate will be about whether or not the atomic bombs used on Japan were necessary and/or justified." Their teacher Mr. Hawkman explained. He was in his mid-40's, wore glasses, was around 6 feet tall, and had been teaching at Casper High for over a decade. "Before we begin, how many of you believe it was justified? How many of you believe it was not? And how many of you are undecided?" About half the hands went up at the last one, Danny's among them. He knew a little about it, but not enough to come up with any kind of intelligent opinion. 5 believed it was necessary, 6 believed it was not, and 12 people were undecided.

"Thank you, everybody." Tucker smiled. He was still nervous, but he was damned if he was going to let Sam beat him this time around. He was nearly 18, and was the tallest of the trio at over 6 feet. He was still a twig, but no longer wore a hat and had a pair of glasses that made him look like less of a nerd. To his friends' surprise, women were starting to notice him now. "As horrible as they may have been, we had no other option but to use the atomic bombs and that is what I will be proving today."

"Actually, the bombings were both militarily unnecessary and a war crime, as can be easily shown." Sam countered. She had changed the least out of the trio. Sam was a couple of inches taller since she started high school, but her friends frequently teased her about being the shortest of them. She still wore the Goth clothes, although they were looser than they used to be. She didn't exactly enjoy guys drooling over her, or at least that's what she said. "So please ignore the techno-geek over there and tune out what he says."

Tucker smirked at her; he was going to enjoy this. "Even in the middle of 1945, the Japanese still had a large army at around 2 million men. They were not willing to surrender and were ready to fight to the bitter end. The Japanese at the time considered surrender to be disgraceful and very few of them were ever captured alive, due to their code of Bushido. The government in charge by this time were well aware they could not win, but they hoped to make our country and the rest of the Allies pay a high enough price to where we would sue for peace and they would be able to stay in power.

"Okinawa, an island around 240 miles off the coast of Japan, would be a good example of this. It took us over 2 months to take the island, with a price of over 12,000 American lives. The Japanese lost over 100,000 soldiers, with only a few hundred surviving. That's not including all the civilians who died in the process. Horrible as the bombs may have been, it was the only way to put a quick end to the war and save countless lives."

It was now Sam's turn and she was not going to let herself be beaten. "The atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were fundamentally immoral to use. The two of them alone killed over 150,000 Japanese, and doomed tens of thousands more to health problems and shorter lives. There is no justification for mass murder of civilians, not even during wartime." She posted several pictures she found on the internet showing the results of the bombing. "There are only a few of the photographs taken of the victims after the bombing. Many who did not die in the initial blast succumbed to radiation poisoning afterward.

"Say Germany had used these bombs on us during the war, or say Japan had them and they used them against the Chinese? What would we have done then? We would have tried them as war criminals for crimes against humanity and had them hanged. You could extend the same argument to the people who planned the use of the atomic bombs against civilian populations. It was a crime against humanity that cannot be justified."

"Except of course for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of Japan. Even optimistic projections showed hundreds of thousands of American lives lost in the invasion. Unlike our liberation of Europe, the Japanese knew where we were going to land and had fortified the position. Had it become necessary, there would have been a great deal of carnage on both sides, especially when we ended up having to fight in the cities.

"Before it can be used, yes, many of the people were growing tired of the war, the hardship, and the constant bombing. The leadership, on the other hand, were determined to fight and they were the ones in charge and the opinions that shaped the country. They were going to fight to the last man. The firebombing of Tokyo and of other major cities killed even more people than the atomic bombs had, but they were still willing to fight in spite of it."

"Not only was using the bomb an immoral action, it was also unnecessary." Sam returned. "Japan was in no condition to fight and was ready to surrender. Their cities had been destroyed, hundreds of thousands were dead, their navy and air force all but annihilated. Their entire island was being blockaded by our forces, which meant thousands were starving. How could they have possibly mustered any kind of defense?

"If we insisted on using the atomic bomb, we could have demonstrated it on a deserted island, especially since Japan was ready to surrender in any case. Many commanders on the ground concluded as much including General of the Army Dwight Eisenhower. They could have put up no resistance to us, they were tired of fighting, and would have surrendered even if we had not used the bomb." She used the projector to show various quotes from commanders and scientists of the time, arguing that the bomb was not necessary.

"Most of what she had said was true. Even so, it did not mean they were not going to fight. They were used to conventional bombing, in spite of all the casualties. We needed something that no one had ever seen before in order to get them to surrender. However, we only had 2 bombs at the time. Say we had decided to do a demonstration, invited the Japanese leader, and the bomb failed to go off. We would have become a laughingstock and it would have hardened their resolve.

"The government was training its civilians to charge at American soldiers, using rifles, swords, or even bamboo sticks. They were old men, women, and even young children. If we had invaded and they had attacked, we would have had no choice but to strike back. It would have been a slaughter. Something else I should point out is that so many Purple Hearts were made in preparation of the invasion that we still have plenty of them today to give to injured soldiers on the field.

"Another thing that is overlooked is that the bomb saved more than just American and Japanese lives. In China, around 200,000 people were dying every month from the Japanese invasion, the vast majority of them civilians. If the war had dragged on for another year, if we did not use the bomb, millions more in China would have perished."

Sam was surprised that Tucker was proving a formidable opponent, but she was not out of the running just yet. "The targets we chose were of little military value. The populations were overwhelming civilian. Even if the bomb was necessary, which I do not believe, why did we drop it on civilian targets? We could have done so on military divisions if we wanted to justify the expense.

"We used them in spite of the fact that our intelligence was well aware that Allied Prisoners of War were being held in the cities. It didn't matter to them; all they were hoping to do was hurt Japan and if some had to be sacrificed, they would be.

"It was not the only reason we dropped the bomb. We also wanted to frighten the Soviet Union because we did not want them to have any influence in Japan. The bomb was mainly for their benefit than as a legitimate need to use it on Japan. Hundreds of thousands died for it, in spite of the fact that using them was a crime against humanity, in spite of the fact that it was militarily unnecessary to do so. The people involved were not punished because we won the war: victor's justice.

"If they saved so many lives, why did the 1946 Strategic Bombing Survey conclude that there was no reason for the bombings? We saw the Japanese as less than human, who deserved anything we decided to do to them." It continued back and forth for a while longer, both of them frequently repeating the arguments for and against the bomb, until the teacher told them to take a seat.

This time, it was 8 people saying the bombings were justified, 8 saying that they were not, and 5 still undecided. Danny was one of them, since he didn't want either of them angry. Personally, he felt it was necessary, but was under no illusions as to what kind of suffering it caused. Even so, he did not want to take sides against one of his friends; both meant a lot to him.

Sam and Tucker were still bickering even after the class was over. "Okay, guys, enough!" Danny cut them off. "Both of you have different opinions, neither of you are going to convince the other, so just leave it at that. Besides, I think we have other things to worry about."

"Like what?" Tucker wondered.

"There was a ghost I fought this morning, and he was terrified of going back into the ghost zone." Danny explained. "He told me that something terrible was coming, and that was about all I could get out of him. I think we may need to be prepared for something."

"You think this could be something like Pariah Dark all over again?" Sam asked, all thoughts of the debate forgotten. "He's the only one I can think of that is powerful enough to cause that kind of reaction."

"Should we go into the ghost zone to see what we can find?" Sam wondered.

"I'm not too sure about that yet." Danny admitted. "I saw the kind of fear the ghost felt. He was willing to do anything to stay out of the ghost zone. I eventually decided to let him go, but told him not to cause any problems. If he's smart, he'll listen to me."

"We better let Jazz know as well." Tucker recommended. "If something is truly happening, I'm sure she'll be plenty of help."

"Yeah, I'll tell her, but I really hope this is nothing." Danny sighed. "It probably is, though." He rubbed his temples. There always seemed to be something. It had been years, but he still remembered the Pariah Dark incident. He was a lot stronger now than he was then, but personally, he doubted he had anywhere near the power to fight him on even terms.

The trio continued debating for as long as they had free time, but none of them really knew anything, or had any idea where to start. Economics class passed by pretty quickly. Thankfully for Danny, Tucker knew quite a bit about the class and was able to help him whenever he was stuck.

They walked to Danny's house. Sam decided to answer the door first, since his parents always seemed to put anti-ghost devices on the door. _Amazing that they haven't figured out my secret yet. Still, from everything I've read, it's believed that ghost hybrids are an impossibility. _So far, things were quiet inside, which was quite unusual in itself.

"Hello, Danny!" Jack exclaimed from the kitchen. Well, so much for that. "Don't mind me; I've just been making some fudge. Been working on a new device all day and I needed a snack. You want some?"

"No, thanks, Dad." Danny declined. "I have a lot of homework to do today."

"Well, if you change your mind, let me know." Jack laughed. Danny had long since known that his father had an almost unhealthy like of fudge. With the way he cut it, it was amazing he hadn't chopped off a couple fingers by now. Still, he supposed that was a good thing.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker went into his room, where Tucker started playing one of the more violent video games: GTA Vice City. "How can you play that thing, Tucker?" Sam complained. "Don't you know those kind of games promote violence, murder, and make it more likely for someone to try doing this in real life?"

"That's a bunch of crap." Tucker dismissed. "Yeah, I'm killing people in a game. Hmm, that means I'm going to go crazy and becoming a cold-blooded murderer!"

"Enough!" Danny exclaimed before another argument can begin. "We have other things to worry about right now, like what exactly that ghost is talking about."

"We don't exactly have much to go on, Danny." Sam reminded him. "All we know is that something exists, and we haven't even seen that for ourselves. We better start doing some more exploring of the ghost zone. Your parents have that Specter Speeder?"

"It'll be a couple more days before it's fully repaired." Danny replied. "I'll see what I can find out, though. We've mapped out a good part of the ghost zone, so it's got to be pretty far in the distance, assuming anything is out there. Pariah's locked up, as well my other self, so I can't think of anyone else who can cause that kind of fear."

"Think you can carjack me?" Tucker laughed. "Out of the car, bitch! You're a dead man!" They heard a gunshot come from the PS2 console. "Ha! Eat it!"

"Yeah, video games don't make people violent at all." Sam stated sarcastically. Before Danny could say anything, she turned back to him and said: "I don't think there's anything we can do besides wait. Suppose we could ask Vlad, but I wouldn't trust him for something like this."

"We'll go in the ghost zone and check it out tomorrow." Tucker stated. "It could be nothing, but no harm in making sure, right? Maybe you can ask the friends you've made over the years."

"Yeah, least some of them should know something." Danny admitted. "I want to wait until we get the Speeder fixed. We can go without it, but I don't want anything to happen to you guys. Before you say anything, I know you can take care of yourselves, but if I get into a fight, I would rather have my hands free."

"Stop being so paranoid; not many ghosts even bother messing with you anymore." Tucker reminded him. "You can just kick their asses if they're dumb enough to try fighting you."

"True, but a couple of them still pose a challenge." Danny replied. "Nocturne is one, and Walker can still be trouble if he has enough goons with him. Never did have the guts to face me alone, though." He chuckled slightly to himself. Tucker continued killing people in Vice City, while Danny and Sam began talking about more mundane topics.

X X X X X X X X X X

He flew as fast as he could, and had he been human, he would probably have been panting hard. He had never went such a great speed before, but then, it had not been necessary for a very long time.

He landed on the ground, falling onto his knees. He was normally very graceful, which told others how exhausted and frightened he was. What he had just seen. "Frostbite, what happened?" One of his people asked. "Was there a ghost foolish enough to attack?"

"No, it is something far worse." Frostbite replied. "Weep for the future, my people; weep for us all."

X X X X X X X X X X

Yep, I am definitely known for evil cliffhangers, LOL. I know with the debate in this story, there are more arguments on both sides, but I didn't want the whole chapter to center around it. I have an interest in history, and I seem to enjoy writing these kind of arguments, but it's not the main focus. I'll say it even though it should be obvious: please read and review.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, I figure that as long as I have the inspiration, I'm going to write. I'm sure you'd appreciate it. Still, there are times I'm starting to wonder if my mind has grown too dark for the Danny Phantom genre.

X X X X X X X X X X

Vlad rubbed his eyelids as he prepared for his day. This one was going to pass by slowly, if his difficulty sleeping last night was any indication. Being a ghost hybrid, he didn't need nearly as much sleep as humans, but when he stayed up for over three days and got only 4 hours of sleep, it was enough to wear out even him.

He walked into his closet and picked out his usual attire. Ever since moving to Amity Park, he didn't have anyone working for him inside the house. It suited Vlad fine; he was used to doing things on his own, in any case. Ordinarily, he would use a room he created underground for training, but today, he didn't have time. Vlad needed to get moving.

He transformed into Plasmius and flew there at top speed, arriving at Vladco, formerly Axion Labs, in less than 2 minutes. He managed to find an isolated area and transformed back, walking into the facility as if nothing had happened. If anyone noticed anything suspicious, well… he was smart enough to evade them and they wouldn't push their boss too hard.

Struggling to stay awake, Vlad sat in one of the first chairs he found. He was hoping to find some coffee, but there didn't appear to be any nearby, so he groaned, found a coffeepot, and made it himself. _A multi-billionaire making his own coffee; I'm sure that would surprise plenty of people. _Even since he started making his fortune, Vlad had been dealing with that kind of stereotype. Many thought that he was arrogant, stupid, only caring about money, a womanizer, and didn't actually have to work for a living.

_Okay, maybe some of that is true, but even if my methods weren't the most… legal, I still worked hard to get where I am now. _After Vlad started downing coffee, he started to feel a little more awake. It was going to be a long day. The technicians were still having difficulty with the latest device. Ghost weapons could be quite powerful, but unfortunately, they ran out of power from only a dozen shots or so and it was difficult to replace the energy.

_Hopefully, our new design here will prove more efficient. Ghost hunting weaponry is barely out of the infancy stage, since for decades, almost no one took it seriously. _After Walker's attack on Amity Park, the people began to do so, and there was a huge demand for them. However, most of them were unable to cause more than a minor pain to ghosts, and had a hard time holding a charge, which made Vlad an even richer man, as they were still among the best of defenses, the Fentons did not have the money for development that he did, and the GIW would never share with anyone.

His eyebrows raised as he saw someone enter the room. He knew Violet Dranias when he saw her. She had worked for him for the last 4 years and had proven herself to be a capable assistant. She had dark eyes and brown hair, but was only around 5'3. Had they been friends, Vlad would probably have teased her about that, but he always maintained a strictly professional relationship with employees; anything else would have caused major problems.

From her last name, he knew that she was of Greek ancestry, and indeed, it was rather obvious just by looking at her and listening to her voice. Violet was also quite attractive, so it was rather difficult to believe that she was actually older than he was. She was 44, but looked about 15 years younger. Were Vlad a different person, he might have decided to ask her out, but his feelings were still completely towards Maddie. _Besides, I don't abuse my power. Okay, I do, but not in that way._

"Good morning." Vlad greeted.

"Morning, Mr. Masters." Violet replied. She seemed somewhat tired, but Vlad just shrugged, not real interested in her personal life. However, what he did find out was that she hated the term Secretary, though that was basically what she was. Instead, he just referred to her as his assistant, deciding that was not a battle worth fighting.

In general, Vlad paid his employees pretty well. It was nothing humanitarian on his part; Vlad was just smart enough to realize that if he treated them well, they worked harder and more skilled people would want to work for him. He had high expectations of his employees, and if they were able to match them, they were well paid.

He walked up to his office, where he had to deal with the usual paperwork. Most of them were trivial complaints, but he had to read every single one of them, which got rather tiring. He'd deal with the ones that were important, and either delay or ignore the ones that weren't. Vlad heard a knock on the door, distracting him from his thoughts.

Before he had a chance to do anything, the door opened, and a man in a suit walked in. "Morand, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Vlad didn't like him much, even though the alliance he had made with him nearly 15 ago made him very rich. He was a suspicious man by nature, and not sure why Morand was offering his assistance.

"I am simply hear to see how well your business is doing. After all, I would not like to think our gifts are going to waste."

"Business is doing quite well, all things considering." Vlad was keeping a close eye on the current policies on the country, knowing that they were likely to want to increase corporate taxes once again. The current president likely would not, but his time in office was nearing an end, which meant he had to worry all over again. _New research, learning from my contacts in the government, see where the political winds are heading. Never seem to have enough time for everything. _

"And how is my employer's latest gift selling?"

"It's doing quite well, actually." Ghost weapons were only a small percentage of his company's revenue, although that had been increasing in recent years. A lot more of it were in military contracts, weapons, body armor, even aircraft. Vlad even had his hands in computers, which while they were of high quality, they were also more expensive, so he was unable to compete successfully with some of the others.

"Good; I'm pleased to hear you have managed to make the most from my employers' assistance."

"It really is quite impressive. Considering the size is considerably less than weapons with a similar power output, this will likely be in high demand."

"Especially in Amity Park, where you are well known to have a ghost problem. Oh, well, it has opened up considerable opportunities."

"Yes, it has, although we have had many unfortunate incidents, including when the entire town was sucked into the ghost zone."

"I heard of that. I believe it was Danny Phantom who managed to reverse it. What more can you tell us about him?"

"He's grown a great deal in power over the years." That was true, but not the whole truth. Vlad trusted no one completely, and was not inclined to hand Morand any free information, no matter how much he and his "employers" helped him.

"Yes, he has, and it seems to be rather unusual for a ghost. From everything you've learned, no ghost should be able to gain power that quickly." Morand was well aware Vlad was holding back, and that wouldn't do, not at all. They talked a while longer, and he left, opening the doors and walking through it.

Just as he was about to walk out, he heard Violet scream in pure rage. It was not the first time Vlad had seen this; indeed, he suspected that she was Bipolar, although he was not an expert in psychology by any means.

"How dare they?" She screamed. "They stole our homes, massacred them for no reason, and they are doing so again!"

"Calm yourself, Miss Dranias." Vlad ordered. "You are still working for me, and I will not tolerate such outbursts. I expect better from my employees."

"Calm myself?" She screamed, oblivious to the fact he was her boss. "Did you read what happened? Did you see what those monsters have done?" A small amount of sense was finally coming into her mind, and she nodded and said: "Yes, Mr. Masters." Once she thought he was out of earshot, though, she continued on her rant. It was difficult for him to pick up on things, but there was enough for him to think that he needed to pay close attention.

Vlad cared little for their personal lives, but he made it a point to know as much as he could about their past, their criminal records, and so on. He looked up her history, but was still just as confused as ever. _Suppose I could have had a subordinate do this, but they would be liable to screw it up. Hmm, I have a meeting in less than an hour. If I'm lucky, maybe Daniel will fly in here, accuse me of something, and injure me so I have an excuse not to attend. _

X X X X X X X X X X

Skulker flew through the ghost zone, having finally gotten his suit repaired. Even with its upgrades, he found himself to be all but helpless against Danny Phantom. _He has indeed grown a great deal since our first encounter. I wonder if it is even possible to defeat him now. _

Much as he hated to admit, he had grown to have a great deal of respect for Danny Phantom. No matter what the odds were against him, he refused to give up. He had always found a way to defeat him and any other opponent he faced. He struggled daily, balanced ghost fighting along with the rest of his life, and yet in spite of everything, he had a strong heart.

There were times Skulker had considered attacking and killing his friends as a measure of revenge, but decided against it. On their own, they were unworthy prey, and as a true hunter, he would not debase himself to do so. If they fell while fighting alongside their friend was one thing, but he wanted a fight, a challenge, not a helpless opponent. But more than that, he feared what the ghost child would do if he decided to take such an action.

His machines detected a ghost that was nearby; Skulker hurriedly looked at them to see if it would pose a challenge and a worthy trophy. Surprisingly, his devices had a difficult time locking on to whatever ghost that was. "Yes, this will be a worthy challenge for Skulker, the ghost zone's greatest hunter!" he exclaimed, following the ghost.

After a short time, he fired a couple of missiles, both of them slamming into the ghost's back. It made no sound, but simply turned around to face its opponent. Skulker looked at it with shock, its giant red eye standing out. He took out a couple of blades, moving in for the kill, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that told him that it this was a bad idea.

The ghost simply flew out of the way, not making any move to attack. Skulker fired more missiles, but this time they were shot down before they reached their target. He grinned, pleased that he found a worthy challenge. One thing he was unable to explain, though, was why it was nearly impossible to lock onto him. The ghost didn't have a suit of his own (at least Skulker believed it was a he) so how was it possible?

He was forced onto the defensive when the ghost start hitting back, firing pure red ecto-blasts. One of them smashed into Skulker, spinning him around and leaving him weakened. He started to think that he may have chosen an opponent that was too powerful for him to defeat, but his pride would not let him back down.

"You are powerful," Skulker complimented. "But no one can defeat me!" That wasn't exactly true, but he was attempting to intimidate his opponent. He fired nets, the second one restraining the ghost. He began to pull the line back, an idea he had borrowed from Jack Fenton. Just as he got close, however, the ghost broke free and kicked him across the jaw, nearly tearing off the robotic head.

Now getting increasingly desperate, Skulker fired every weapon he had, realizing that if he retreated now, this ghost would follow. It simply conjured up a shield, all of his ecto-blasts and missiles smashing harmlessly into it. _It would be foolish of me to continue this fight any longer; I'd better get out of here. _

Before now, he had ignored the rumors of a new kind of very powerful ghost; now he was starting to think that the rumors were true. He fired a stream of smoke to distract him long enough to get away. His jet pack moved at full speed, desperate to try and get away from him. Skulker did not dare look back to see if it was pursuing.

He heard a loud scream in his head, and inside his exosuit, he felt like covering his ears, but he could not avoid the distraction. _I have one chance; I must get through the Fenton Portal. The ghost child must be warned of this. _On several occasions, he had worked with the ghost child to defeat a greater threat, and if the rumors he was hearing were true, that was going to be necessary once again.

He saw the portal in the distance and sped at maximum speed. His suit was nearly falling apart, but if he didn't get there, none of that would matter. Skulker heard another screech inside his head, increasing his panic. The portal slowly turned from a glimmer into a larger circle as he moved closer. He was hit in the back, all but destroying the jet pack, leaving it very difficult to fly.

He all but fell into Fenton Works, and frantically looked for a way to shut the portal down so the ghost could not follow. With the noise he made, it was inevitable that someone would hear him. Jack Fenton was running down the stairs, a giant ecto-gun in his hands. The ghost had indeed followed Skulker and looked at him with an expression he was unable to read.

Jack fired several shots, hitting the ghost twice, not seeing Skulker. Maddie followed into the room, a smaller but still powerful gun in her arms. The ghost simply looked at them and began to raise his hand, energy pulsing. However, he dropped it, and retreated back into the portal. Skulker flew out into the skies before they noticed he was there.

_That is extremely odd. _Skulker thought. _I was unable to defeat him and I am more skilled than either of the Fentons, and yet at the sight of them, the ghost had simply retreated. _The entire hunt had left him with many questions and no answers. _I'd better find the ghost child; he should not be hard to find. I only hope he will hear me out before he attacks, for I am in no condition to fight. _

X X X X X X X X X X

"Well, guys, I looked around the ghost zone most of the night, but I couldn't find anything." Danny moaned, rubbing his eyes. He really needed to get some sleep. "I did notice a few strange things, though."

"And what would that be?" Tucker wondered.

"I just heard the same thing that I listened to from ghosts." Danny sighed. "Many of them are afraid of something, but they don't know what it is. I'm finding it pretty confusing."

"Did you check Pariah's keep?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I checked it, and nothing has changed." Danny explained. "He's still imprisoned, and the damage we caused in our battle is still there. After I get some sleep, I'm going back in there to ask Frostbite. If anyone knows about what is going on, he does."

"You know, Vlad have something to do with this as well." Sam suggested. "Either he's the one causing this, or he's woken up something powerful again. Wouldn't surprise me; he never seems to learn anything."

"I'll see what I can find, but I personally doubt it." Danny sighed. "If he was the one causing all this, the ghosts would have told me. Plasmius is as well known in the Ghost Zone as I am. If he woke up something that he can't control, he would have come to me by now, begging for my assistance. Much as I hate to say it, I don't think he's involved. I wish he was; then at least we'd know what we're dealing with."

"Are we dealing with anything?" Tucker asked. "I know I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, but all we've heard are rumors, and a few ghosts that are afraid. When pariah was released, there were tens of thousands of them running through our portal, and probably many more through others. We're not seeing anything like that now."

"It's possible, Tucker, but the consequences of being wrong are pretty terrible." Danny sighed. His ghost sense went off. He hid behind a dumpster and transformed into Danny Phantom, floating in the air, an ecto-blast charged in each hand.

"Wait, I'm not here to fight!" He heard a protesting voice. He saw Skulker, but not in the way he usually did. His suit was burned, one of the arms had been destroyed, and his jet pack could not keep him steady in the air.

"Then why are you here, Skulker?" Danny demanded. He was tempted to just attack him and suck him into the Thermos, but this was more evidence of the rumors that he had been hearing.

"I'm actually here to warn you, ghost child." Skulker declared, trying to sound confident even in his current state. "From what I have found, the rumors I have heard over the past few weeks are true. I barely survived an encounter with one of them."

"Did you try and hunt it?" Tucker laughed.

"Yes, I did, only it turned out to be a lot more powerful than I expected." Skulker warned. "It was difficult for me to aim my weapons, and the missiles…. That was almost impossible. I barely escaped with my afterlife, and probably would not have if not for your parents."

"Mom and Dad?" Danny exclaimed. He was ready to fly off at full speed, only to be grabbed by Skulker.

"They are unharmed, ghost child." Skulker tried to reassure. "The ghost that was pursuing me retreated the second it saw them, but I do not know why. They would certainly have been no match for it, so why did it retreat?"

"And what exactly did this ghost look like?" Sam asked.

"It is difficult to describe, but one striking characteristic is that it had a giant glowing eye in the center of its head. It was glowing red; during the fight, I heard some kind of screeching sound in my head. I do not know what it means, or even if the ghost was the one making it. I just wanted to let you know that something terrible is coming, and you and your allies had best prepare for it."

"Is there anything else you can tell me about this thing?" Danny asked.

"No, I know very little, only that it is powerful and there are likely many more of them." Skulker warned. "I offer my assistance in the coming battle, as we have fought side by side in the past."

"How do we know you're not just making this up to capture Danny?" Tucker challenged.

"Perhaps you have observed my condition." Skulker returned, crossing his remaining arm around his chest. "When this is over, we will be enemies once again, but for now, I believe a truce is in order."

"Fine, but I'll be keeping an eye on you." Danny glared. "If this turns out to be a trick, so help me, you're going to pay for it!"

"Understood." That being said, Skulker flew off to the best of his ability. His flight pattern was erratic, and he had great difficulty staying in the air.

"That definitely doesn't sound good." Sam remarked. They walked the rest of the way to Fenton Works in silence. Tucker opened the door, and they walked in, seeing the rest of the family at the table.

"Hello, Danny, how was your day?" Jazz asked. She was going to college and had a dorm room, but she still spent a lot of time at home. It wasn't easy for her to leave.

"About the same as usual." Danny tried to grin. "Ever since Sam and Tucker got into politics, I've had to listen to their constant bickering. I didn't think it could get any worse, but I was wrong." He moved his head slightly to indicate that he needed to talk to her away from his parents. Jazz followed to where Sam and Tucker were waiting.

"It looks like there's something going on in the ghost zone that's got a lot of them frightened." Danny told her.

"Yeah, my parents have been talking all day about some new ghost that showed up in the lab earlier." Jazz replied. "From the parts of the conversation I managed to piece together, it was powerful, but it didn't attack. It just retreated when it saw them."

"That's what Skulker told us." Tucker remarked. "Maybe his story is true after all."

"So do you guys know anything about this?" Jazz wondered.

"Just rumors from a few ghosts, and the warning Skulker gave us." Sam informed. "I'd like it if we had more information, but we don't have much to go on." She was about to say "I wish" but didn't want to take the chance of Desiree being around.

"After I get some sleep, I'm going back in the ghost zone to visit Frostbite." Danny declared. "Yes, you guys can come with me; I'm smart enough to realize that nothing I will say is going to stop you. How many times have we been through this by now?"

"You're finally learning, little brother." Jazz smiled, ruffling his hair, while his friends chuckled at the gesture of affection. Danny may have been embarrassed, but he wouldn't trade them for anything.

X X X X X X X X X X

Far away from Amity Park, someone was watching a vision. One ship was firing upon another, rapidly sinking it and shooting the ones that did not go down with the ship. The ship that was sunk had 2 branches beneath the shape of the country as a flag. The ship that had attacked had a crescent and a star flying above it.

Throughout the whole ordeal, Clockwork watched, shaking his head. He knew what was about to happen, what a relatively small action meant for them all, but even he was powerless to stop it. "And so it begins." He murmured sadly.


End file.
